A needs analysis of hispanic small-business owners in the greater San Francisco Bay area
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Authors
Gonzalez, Saul Antonio
Issue Date
2009
Type
Capstone
Language
en
Keywords
Psychology
Alternative Title
Abstract
Recent studies have shown that Hispanic small-business owners are on the rise. According to a 2002 U.S. Census Bureau report, Hispanics in the United States are opening businesses at three times the national average.
In 2006, Michael Veve, a Washington lawyer who consults with Hispanic smallbusinesses, discovered that Hispanic immigrants, after saving enough money to become independent and break the poverty cycle, want to go into business as soon as they can leave their day jobs. One small-business owner he interviewed said, "I want to live a legacy in the United States for our family to grow financially and for our kids to have a dream for more oppertunities (p2)." According to the 2002 U.S. Census Bureau report, of the 380 small-businesses established in California, 112 were Hispanic small business owned firms. In San Francisco alone, 5,305 Hispanic firms contributed to the total businesses for the state of California. Other Bay Area metropolitan cities like San Jose and Oakland also made major contributions to the total number of Hispanic businesses growing throughout the United States. The U.S. Census Bureau reports that most Hispanic businesses are in the following industries: transportation and warehouse, construction, retail and trade; waste management; health care and social assistance. Although these relevant studies reveal positive contributions to the growing dynamics of Hispanic business owners, another perspective is not being studied.
On the contrary, many Hispanic owners have closed their businesses throughout the greater San Francisco Bay Area. One example is in the Mission District, many Hispanic business owners have been pushed out of their establishments, due to, the major gentrification shifts that occurred during the dot.com boom in the mid 1990's. This major gentrification shift encouraged many Hispanic small-business owners to shutdown businesses and relocate into other areas within the greater Bay Area.
According to the Mission Anti-Displacement Coalition, over 1.7 million square feet of building space devoted to production, distribution, and auto repair shop were bought out by major development firms in order to gentrify the "Mission" (2000, p. 10). Also, there was the major thrust to jazz up the Mission District for business development; the most significant contribution was the establishment of new housing for high-tech and bio-tech workers, employed near the San Francisco Bay Area. The "Mission" is a major commuting hub to various metropolitan cities such as the Silicon Valley, South San Francisco, San Jose, Mountain View, Fremont, Oakland, and most International Airports (San Francisco, Oakland, and San Jose). Most corporations developing during this era, realized the value of developing additional housing for these working professionals. In some cases, many of these small-business owners could not afford another move, so many went back to their countries or relocated for work.
For example, Leslie Cedeno, a 46-year old retail shop owner, selling Mexican jewelry ran her business on 24th and Mission between 23' and 22w' streets. She had been in business for about fifteen years saying, "I ran my business for the sole purpose of providing for my family and saving for my daughter's college education, so she could have a better opportunity than I did! Now I have to clean houses and commute to Mann's Mill Valley, while taking three different buses just to get to work. My store is gone, but most importantly, so is my dream! We now live in a garage in the Mission because rent is so expensive (C. Leslie, personal communication, August 26, 1999)."